The Summer Hikaru Died manga ends with chapter 51, closing Mokumokuren's five-year run on Young Ace UP
The final chapter of Mokumokuren's horror manga was released on October 20, as announced in September. CygamesPictures' anime has a second season in production.
Yoshiki Tsujinaka's story is over. Chapter 51 of The Summer Hikaru Died (Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu) was released on October 20, ending Mokumokuren's manga close to five years after it debuted on Kadokawa's web manga site Young Ace UP in August 2021.
The finish line had been public for weeks. On September 1, the series' official X account said only two chapters remained and set the dates: chapter 50 on October 13 and the finale a week later. Both landed on schedule.
Mokumokuren, who writes and draws the series, marked the occasion with a short message to readers. In AnimeTV's English rendering, it reads: "There are no monsters in this world, but I offer my blessings to those who still feel like monsters themselves."
The line fits a story built around a stand-in. In a mountain village, Yoshiki comes to realize that his best friend Hikaru Indou, who returned after going missing for a week, is no longer quite Hikaru. Yen Press, which publishes the English edition, describes the returned figure as something that wears Hikaru's face, voice and memories while being something else entirely. It was the creator's first serialized work, and nine collected volumes are out so far.
The anime has already brought it to a wider audience. CygamesPictures' adaptation, directed by Ryohei Takeshita, began its 12-episode broadcast on Nippon TV in July 2025 and wrapped that September, with Netflix carrying it worldwide and ABEMA in Japan. A second season is in production, but no broadcast date has been announced.
